Muttalik links Ananth, Radia; BJP complaints

The BJP Sunday filed a complaint before the Election Commission against Sri Rama Sena chief Pramod Muttalik for allegedly making personal attacks against the BJP’s Bangalore South candidate H N Ananth Kumar.

At a press conference, Muttalik referred to a book by a Delhi lawyer and alleged a connection between Ananth Kumar and former corporate lobbyist Nira Radia that resulted in Kumar’s wife seeking the intervention of then prime minister A B Vajpayee. The BJP in its complaint accused Muttalik, who is an independent candidate from Bangalore South, of indulging in false propaganda and personal attacks against Ananth Kumar.

“He addressed the press at the instance of political opponents in continuation of his malicious campaign in addition to releasing a book in pursuance to his mala fide actions. The false propaganda has been telecast by the electronic media in violation of the code of conduct,’’ the BJP stated while seeking a restraining order against the malicious propaganda by Muttalik.

Mutalik, who was inducted into the BJP for a few hours on March 23, before being rejected for his link to an attack on women at a pub in Mangalore in 2009 in the name of Hindutva, is contesting two seats as an independent. Muttalik has fielded himself against Ananth Kumar and state BJP president Prahlad Joshi in an attempt to exact revenge for being dumped.